English 1100: Peter Singer's Speciesism and Equality Summary

Peter Singer's article addresses speciesism, the prejudice favoring one's own species, arguing it mirrors sexism and racism. He asserts that prioritizing human interests over those of other species due to perceived superiority is unjust. Singer advocates for equal consideration of interests, emphasizing that the capacity for suffering should be the basis for moral consideration. He uses the example of kicking a rock versus kicking a mouse to illustrate this point. Singer criticizes the trivial benefits humans gain by inflicting harm on animals, particularly in factory farming and scientific research. He argues that much animal experimentation yields insignificant advancements at the cost of immense suffering, concluding that speciesism is morally indefensible and widespread in practices like meat consumption and laboratory testing.

Running head: SUMMARY: SPECIESISM AND EQUALITY OF ANIMALS
SUMMARY: SPECIESISM AND EQUALITY OF ANIMALS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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SUMMARY: SPECIESISM AND EQUALITY OF ANIMALS
The speciesism and the priority of animals depending upon the physical species that they
belong to is the main theme of the article by Peter Singer. In the article the author has stated that
speciesism is very dominant human categorization and is more of a prejudice that has been
inculcated within the human nature through their increasing intelligence. The author has referred
to the objections made by Thomas Jefferson and Sojourner Truth with context to sexism and
racism and states that these equally apply to speciesism (277). He defines speciesism as the
exploitation of one species over another owing to their superiority in terms of intelligence and
power. He has also expressed his view with regards to the principal of equal consideration of
interests and has stated his approval of supporting the basic moral principal of equal
consideration. Singer has referred to the Bentham (278) on the context of suffering as a
characteristic that creates the importance of equal consideration. He supports Bentham by
stating that the interest of all beings must be evaluated on the context of either their suffering or
their enjoyment. He brilliantly puts an example of a rock and a mouse being kicked and states
that the kicking of a stone will not bring any difference to it on the contrary, the mouse will
definitely suffer with respect to the injury inflicted from the kick. Singer (278) states that there
can be no moral justification of a suffering caused by any species over another and under no
circumstances can be the suffering justified and also expresses that the suffering of a species
should be counted equally at par with all other species when a similar kind of suffering is
experienced by them. the author also states that it is the nature of a speciesists is similar to that of
a racist or sexist who over rides the interest of the other (in this case the inferior) in order to gain
interest which are of trivial value to them by inflicting harm on the other species (280). He
compares that most humans are speciesists and most them take part in practicing speciesism
which is reflected in our daily lives. Every inch of our plate is involved with speciesist practices

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SUMMARY: SPECIESISM AND EQUALITY OF ANIMALS
and there can be no justification of eating flesh or meat for the sake of having protein which can
be met from other means as well. Peter Singer (281) brings in references of various laboratory
tests that are being conducted across several universities in the silhouette of scientific research
and to satisfy growing human needs speciesism is being conducted at a large scale and on a
regular basis. The hens being produced for consumption are reared in condition that completely
disregards their basic necessity. The laboratory test on rabbits and guinea pigs equally justify
speciesism and should be brought to an end immediately (281). The author finally concludes by
stating, that most researches are not of any significant value or contribute greatly to the
advancement of humanity, but is done to understand trivial effects at the highest cost of other
species.

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SUMMARY: SPECIESISM AND EQUALITY OF ANIMALS
Works cited.
The Broadview anthology of expository pose. Editor: Tammy Roberts Peterbrough Broadview
Press, 2002